AUGUSTIN CULA KLINE: February 2008 Archives

Top creative executive Paul Tilley for the advertising agency DDB committed suicide last Friday, February 22. Famous for the "I'm lovin' it" of McDonald's and "Dude, you're gettin' a Dell" of Dell slogans, Tilley had a significant impact on the advertising spectrum. I remember working at McDonald's years ago when the new slogan came out. Everything was revamped. New uniforms, new greetings, new signs, new sandwiches, new everything. Boy was that a sh*tty job. And now here I am preparing to do a directed blog post about advertising.



Above is one of EA's Rock Band's latest commercials. In case you don't know what Rock Band is, it's the new addition to a line of video games in which the player plays a guitar like controller to an array of music. Rock Band is available on all next generation consoles.

The field of TV video game advertising is rather homogeneous. Typically, video game commercials consist of in-game graphics in a provocative sequence, usually really fast, that illustrates the actual in-game experience. You might compare this to a movie trailer in which a string of clips from the movie are combined to evoke the most powerful moments of the movie. Alternatively, the Rock Band commercial appeals more to the user of the video game than the actual game itself. The commercial portrays game players in a fictional environment that personifies the emotion a player might experience by playing the game. This really does set it self apart from the majority of video game TV advertisements.

The commercial music, Suffragette City by David Bowie, is a classic rock song.  While the song is playing, apparent band members are lounging in a private jet supposedly on tour for playing the video game. Meanwhile, the band members are having a trivial argument over what the band should call themselves (humor). While I might not be laughing, it is the intention of this commercial to present a hypothetical, sarcastic situation. The name Rock Band is self defining. Clearly the actors portrayed in this commercial are just that, rockers.

The individuals relaxing in the private jet are aged roughly between 18 and 24. The obvious target audience of the commercial is high school/college aged young adults who enjoy video games and music. The commercial contains the token black male and white female, along with 3 other white males. All appear to be of the same music culture, although they seem rather generic looking (and I'm sure intentionally). Towards the end of the commercial, when David Bowie starts playing, "Rock Band" fades onto the screen signifying the commercials end.

This clever approach to video game commercials is unique and entertaining. While in real life we play this game and feel like rock stars, in the commercial you ARE a rock star. The commercial evokes the feeling that by playing the game you are becoming a rock star. In conclusion I feel that this method of advertising is unique and effective. Also R.I.P. Paul Tilley.
 
 

 

Last semester I took a course in sociology on population and policy. During the course we utilized a site called "My Best Segments" by Claritas (a marketing research/software company) to evaluate consumer behavior in almost every region on the United States. You can take a look yourself. Try entering your own hometown's zip code. It's fascinating the information that the website provides. It begins by assigning appropriate, yet clever, names for various "communities" found within that zipcode. When you think you've found the one that corresponds with the neighborhood you are seeking, select it. I believe mine was "Suburban Pioneers" for zip code 16803. It then gives a brief narrative of the general culture of that area, and then displays various variables. Here was mine.

Ethnic Diversity:	White, Black, Hispanic
Presence of Kids:	Family Mix
Age Ranges:	Age <55
Education Levels:	Some College
Employment Levels:	White Collar, Mix
Homeownership:	Homeowners
Urbanicity:	Suburban
Income:	Downscale
Income Producing Assets:	Moderate

Furthermore it projects defined statistics and lifestyle traits.

2006 Statistics:

US Households: 1,163,110 (1.04%)

Median HH Income: $33,258

 

Lifestyle Traits

·  Eat fast food ·  Do needlepoint ·  Baby Talk magazine ·  King of the Hill in syndication ·  Suzuki Verona

Overall an interesting website. I recommend everybody to check it out if you have any free time. You'd be surprised how well that Claritas has researched the consumer/marketing field. It's almost scary.

Companies are able to target designated audiences using tools like this. And with this information being publicly available, we have to wonder what is in store for us next. Advertising armageddon.

Yesterday in class we discussed consumerism and the impacts it has on the IT realm. With instantaneous transactions made over the internet and the digital processing of credit cards, we are in an era where consumers can be consumers at lightning speed. What this means to me as an individual, especially as a computer savvy individual,  is that I am very much vulnerable to the trappings of consumerism that the industry has constructed. I don't have a credit card, but I have a substantial amount of debt. I feel that if I got a credit card, I'd become their slave.

In a world where perfect digital copies can be made in the blink of an eye, and can subsequently be disseminated across the web to thousands of recipients over night…

Tomorrow our team (team 9) will be debating with team 2 over the issue of DRM. This is an area that has a significant relevance in today's digital media world. Do companies deserve the right to police the products they sell? Are the stepping on user's toes, forcing them to comply with their policy? Are we hurting ourselves by using DRM or protecting the market?

There are a large number of arguments opposing DRM. Users will obviously feel that they are entitled to the fullest list of rights for copyrighted works they purchase. The Fair Use doctrine lists some of their limited rights, and those who oppose DRM will testify that DRM encroaches on their fair use. This is a natural response to an oppressing force such as DRM.

In light of the "piracy" problem, there must be a method that somehow attempts to control illegally circulating content. In order to ensure record labels a stream of revenue, DRM has been implemented. Rampant piracy threatens the entire content creation scheme. This widespread piracy is effectively eliminating the incentive for people to make new content, which will inevitably lead to the demise of music, movie, and publishing industry.

As it turns out, our team is supporting DRM, while the other is opposing. Should be an interesting, but one sided debate. There aren't many that support DRM: corporate executives and their attorneys. Not even the musicians.

Lately in class the raging topic has been Social Networking Services (SNS), a new mechanism that we apply daily. And while to me this topic may seem mundane, it has great relevance. In this day and age we live and breathe information via the internet. It’s only natural for our generation to administer personal data to the web. Consequently, we all have a subscription to some type of social networking service. If you don’t you’re weird. I personally and solely use Facebook. And while we integrate this service into our daily lives, we often fail to recognize the vulnerability we are creating for ourselves. SNS possess the ability to expose you entirely to the globe. They can also form community. And although we have the reins of information control, or perhaps we even don’t, we have to wisely use our discretion when publishing ourselves on the web.

I hope that everyone is enjoying their evening canoodling with your significant other after a nice expensive dinner courtesy of outback steak house ( and quadruple bypass surgery due to quintuple the daily sodium value) and the ouch on the wallet after spending 50 dollars on bouquet delivery. For those of you who are not so fortunate, perhaps your sig. other is working or you simply don't have one, you unlucky bastard, there is still hope. If you're like me, or if you're reading this, you are probably taking IST 431. And that means that you better start slamming out that directed blog post, because it's due in 24 hours. And that means that instead of making sweet mandatory love by the fire, you're gonna be digging the canals of your sick and twisted brain for inspiration. Further more if you're like me you have a ton of other work to be doing. This week we have been talking about the convergence of technology. I'm about to demonstrate this. I'm going to converge an assignment book with a blog.

Asian Philosophy: Write paper on Zen buddhism, due last week
IST 432: case briefs, chapter 6 reading, chapter 6 homework, study for quiz, work plan document
IST 431: finish this blog, mandatory blog post by tomorrow, meeting tomorrow @ 12:30 AM for debate prep
IST 420: Meeting tomorrow @ 5:00 PM, use case description: shop floor due next friday
IST 451: Catch up on Lab work, online readings for section 6
Geography: Lab II
Future Forum: Solicit companies, email professors about posters, meeting tomorrow @ 2:30 PM

The miracle of technology. Happy Valentines days love birds.

I just overheard, as I was peacefully studying in the sanctuary of my living room, that a disabled woman (as in she can't walk) was placed on hold by 911 while her bed was on fire.

Maybe I'm just assuming that when you dial 911 you have an emergency to report. I'm sure the call center employee had heard a handful of "my cat is stuck in a tree" & "my keys are locked in my car", but this is just ridiculous. The poor woman was burned alive "because of a malfunction" in the 911 system. How long has 911 been in use?

Good Evening Readers; I hope you all have had a great week.

I just found this excellent article courtesy of the digg effect. In it are "The Top 50 Proprietary Programs" and 50 open source alternatives.

Danah's use of terms such as "art-fag" and "emo" rang true with me (although she should probably add "scenester" to her vocabulary). Combined with her reluctance to accept mean family income as a metric to stratify class, I was able to personally identify with her opinion.  

 http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html

"Social networks are strongly connected to geography, race, and religion; these are also huge factors in lifestyle divisions and thus "class."" - An excerpt from the above linked article.

In her article, she reviews the user groups of the "social network systems" (SNS) behemoths Facebook and MySpace. She breaks it down as such: Facebook is for those shining stars of young society: white kids bound for college and beyond. MySpace is for the deviants that used to lurk in the highschool band hallway and behind the school cafeteria, lighting up a smoke before gym class. 

While her argument may be semi- true, I feel she is missing a huge and valuable point. This may even be in support of her belief, that MySpace is for the subversive, undereducated. My point is this: MySpace is for the person who has absolutely no concept of weblayout, i.e. an imbecile. 

http://radprofile.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/coyote-ugly.jpg

By now most people have moved to Facebook to avoid terrible weblayouts, and the stigma attached to having one. This creates a dilemma to the original Facebook user, such as myself. All of those MySpace "emo-fags" have just migrated to my turf, Facebook, giving them the opportunity to dump their garbage onto my beloved, used-to-be-clean, social interface.

  The only conclusion I can make is that it doesn't matter what social network you're from, or which one you use. The same class of people are in both, and that includes every stereotype imaginable (e.g. internet disease). Danah, you sufficiently overanalyzed the whole shebang.

 

The standard mainstream media receives constant undivided attention day in and day out. Grandma’s and Grandpa’s, the United States over, turn on the tube and click it to Fox News. Reporting to you neutral and unbiased updates from around the globe; the mainstream media delivers. We report, you decide. However, with the advent of online blogging we have been given the opportunity to diversify the channels of news delivery. Over the years, the critical thinker has been more and more hard pressed to rely solely on what is fed to us by the mainstream. The critical thinker, given a basic understanding of the internet, may have advanced to newer media such as blogging. But is this source more or less reliable? Can we trust blogs? Can we trust anyone? Isn’t everybody just trying to convince you of their opinion anyway?

To give you, my comrade, some sense of relative understanding I read two articles. “Wow, quite a stunning achievement,” you may say. Har har. However, I read more than that today. I digress. I read two articles of different media, both of which discuss the topic of Microsoft bidding on Yahoo!.

Exhibit A.”The New York Times”, World Renowned Newspaper
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/technology/01cnd-subyahoo.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Exhibit B.”“Joe Duck” Internet Entrepreneur, Online Quack”,  Obscure, Random Blog
http://joeduck.com/2008/02/01/why-microsoftyahoogoogle/

Let’s begin with the content. Actually, first let me state that this “analysis” isn’t really an analysis. It’s my opinion, you know, the thing that is expressed in a blog (most commonly). Now that we have that out of the way I can proceed with my comparative analysis. The content and format of the NYT article is quite simple: introduction, fact, fact, fact, fact, fact, end. Content and format of the Quack’s blog was something like this: introduction, opinion, opinion, opinion, end (Why did I just write that incredibly dorky delivery method). Both articles are discussing the same subject matter. It’s just that the NYT is telling me what actually happened, while the blog is telling me what the dude thinks.

New York Times is read daily by millions of people. If what they deliver isn’t credible, and neutral, they are going to face severe criticism. Why shouldn’t they? Rhetorical question; truth is they get away with it just like everyone else. My point is, their work is comprehensively reviewed. The Times article seems dedicated to deliver unbiased, solid facts; you can’t argue with those. For example, the NYT discusses motivators and statistical figures revolving around Microsoft’s decision to bid on Yahoo!. 

On the alternative, the Quack’s audience, if there is one, probably doesn’t read his blog for more than his fine opinion. That’s why we read and write blogs anyway. However with opinion comes extreme bias. Joe Duck thinks that once Microsoft and Yahoo! merge, they will be superior to Google, a fallacious and bonkers idea (seriously, think about it).

In the end, Joe Duck and I have a lot in common. We both rant in our blogs and are into IT. Maybe that’s why blogs truly exist in the first place; a free zone for overworked IT professionals to come and rant about utter nonsense.

Here’s a video completely unrelated to the two articles I just compared. However, it does touch on the Microsoft/Yahoo! merger. Plus you might learn something.